Cincinnati vs. Houston Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Tuesday, Feb. 27 (Trust Cougars Defense)

Houston maintained its standing at the top of the Big 12, surviving an overtime game at Baylor over the weekend.

Now, the Big 12's top team returns home to face Cincinnati, who is running out of time to make an NCAA Tournament case. A stunning win at Houston would do the trick, but can the team score on the nation's best offense?

Here's our best bet for the second of two meetings between the former AAC teams that are now part of the Big 12.

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Houston vs. Cincinnati Odds, Spread and Total

Cincinnati vs. Houston Betting Trends

• Houston is 10-5-1 against the spread (ATS) this season
• Cincinnati is 5-2-1 ATS this season as underdogs
• Cincinnati has gone UNDER in seven of the last 10 games

Cincinnati vs. Houston How to Watch

• Date: Tuesday, February 26th
• Game Time: 7:00 PM EST
• Venue: Fertitta Center
• How to Watch (TV): ESPN2
• Cincinnati Record: 16-11
• Houston Record: 24-3

Cincinnati vs. Houston Key Players to Watch

Cincinnati

Day Day Thomas: Thomas needs to be on his best behavior protecting the ball for the Bearcats, Houston is top three in the country in turnover percentage. It's never easy taking on Houston, but it can't help if the team coughs the ball up at a high rate. In the first meeting, Thomas had two turnovers in 22 minutes, but only eight as a team.

Houston

Emmanuel Sharp: Sharp had a handful of clutch plays in the overtime win against Baylor, scoring 18 points in the win. The small forward has hit double figures in six of the last seven games with the only single-digit effort being against Cincinnati on the road.

Cincinnati vs. Houston Prediction and Pick

Houston has the best defense in the country, holding teams to the second-lowest effective field goal percentage, and is fourth in turnover rate. Factor in that the team plays at a bottom 20 pace in terms of adjusted tempo and there simply aren't many ways to put points on the board.

Houston hasn't allowed more than 65 points at home this season, and in Big 12 play the team has allowed an average of 56 points per game.

Enter Cincinnati, who has a projected team total of 57.5 on Tuesday night. The Bearcats' biggest strength on offense is its ability to extend possessions with the league's best offensive rebounding rate, but Houston is a terror on the glass, tops in the Big 12 in rebounding percentage.

Further, Houston's ability to generate turnovers will only be amplified at home, Cincinnati is 13th in the Big 12 turnover rate and has the second-lowest effective field goal percentage in league games.

With limited possessions, I'm going to avoid laying the points with Houston, but instead trust the nation's best defense to suffocate another opponent at the Fertitta Center.

PICK: Houston Team Total UNDER 57.5

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Track Reed's bets here!